Method and apparatus for filling bags



p 1929- J. E. CORNELL ET AL 1,728,394

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING BAGS Filed Aug. 5, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 17, 1929. J. E. CORNELL ET AL. 1,728,394

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING BAGS Filed Aug. 5, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 31". 116ml 0141 E1 1; L/Zhn E. Come/l flndrewtl Verwys @1410! any! P 1929- J; E. CORNELL ET AL. 1,728,394

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING BAGS Filed Aug. 5, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 gwvewtovi 3 UbhnECorne/l flndrewtl Verwys attozncqi Patented Sept. 17, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN E. CORNELL AND ANDREW J. VERWYS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T ST. REGIS PAPER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A COR PORATION OF NEW YORK METHSI) AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING BAGS Application filed August 5, 1927. Serial no. 210,841.

This invention rel a te s to a method and apparatus for filling bags. The purpose of the invention is to fill bags expeditlously with various materials, and more particu larly to fillbags with restricted filling openings. Other features and details of the mvention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertical section through one form. of apparatus embodying certain features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a form of apparatus shown in Fig. 1, partly in section; Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section through another form of apparatus embodying certain features of the invention, and 4 is a partial front elevation of apparatusshown in Fig. 3.

In the form of apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there is a stationary frame 10, only portions of which are shown, it being understood that the frame is constructed so as to support the apparatus properly In the 25 form of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, there is a hopper 11 ada ted to receive charges of material from a c arge-forming device 12. From the front side of the hopper there extends a filling tube 13 upon which there may be threaded the valve opening 14 of a bag 15. A clamp 16 pivoted at 17 has a clamp-surface 18 adapted to press against the outside of the bag threaded upon the filling tube, and prevent the bag from being forced off of the tube. An arm 19 extends from the pivot of the clamp towards the machine. The arm is normally held down towards the filling spout by a spring 20, and thus forces the clamp into engagement with the bag.

A screw 21 is mounted in the bottom of the hopper and extends out through the feed spout, and is adapted to feed material from the hopper throughthe spout into the bag.

The screw is mounted upon and turned by ashaft 22 carrying a gear 23 engaging a gear 24 on a shaft 25.

A drive shaft 26 mounted below the hopper carries a sprocket wheel 27 united by a sprocket chain 28 to a sprocket wheel 29 5 on shaft The gearing is so proportioned shaft 30.

that the screw is rotated more rapidly than by shaft 26.

Beneath shaft 26 there is a countershaft 30 mounted in stationary bearings. 31. Shaft 30 carries a sprocket wheel 32 connectedv by a chain 33 with a sprocket wheel 34 on shaft 26. A bottom-support or jigger frame 35 is pivoted on shaft 30.

At the forward end of the machine there are vertical guide rods 36. Slidable on these guide rods are boxes 37 carrying horizontal bars 38. The two horizontal bars 38 carry a series of spaced cross-pieces 39. The forward end 0 jigger frame 35 is connected by links 40 with pivots 41 on boxes 37.

Extending downward from each box 37 there is a bearing 41 for acountershaft 42 parallel with shaft 30. A belt 43 connects a wheel 44 on shaft 30 with a wheel 45 on shaft .42, so'that shaft 42 is driven'from shaft 30.

Between cross-pieces 39 there are crosspieces 46 mounted upon horizontal end bars 47. The end bars 47 are supported and reciprocated vertically by rods 48, connecting them with eccentric straps 49 around eccentrics 50 on shaft 42. Y

4 Acam shaft 51 parallel with drive shaft 26 is driven from the drive shaft by means of reduction gearing '52. Straddling cam shaft 51 there is a forked head 53 bearing a cam roller 54 running in cam groove 55 in a. cam 56 on shaft 51. The head is extended downwardly and pivoted at 57 to a threaded block 58 mounted on a screw 59 which is rotatable in lugs 60 on the jigging frame to shift pivot 57 towards or from Fulcrumed upon a suitably mounted pivot 61 there is a three-arm lever 62. One arm 6370f this lever extends into the pathway of a lug 64 on cam 56,so that arm 63 is dedischarging member'to a pivot 71 on arm 7 2 of lever 62.

A vertical rod 73 is mounted a suitable guideway 74 and carries at its upper end ahead 75 on which is mounted a roller 7 6 in a position to contact clamp-arm 19 and raise the arm against the resistance of spring 20 and release the clamp when rod 73 is raised. The lower end of rod 73 is provided with a connection 77 which unites it with arm 78 of lever 62.

In the apparatus disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2, there is a power shaft 79 mounted to the rear of the machine. This power shaft is connected by a belt orchain 80 with drive shaft 26. The drive connection between shafts 26 and 7 9 is normally idle. As shown in Fig. 2, the filling devices are arranged in pairs, one at the right and one at the left, the two devices being otherwise similar, so that only one need be described.

There is provided a clutch 81 by means of which either the machine at the right or the machine at the left may be driven from power shaft 79. A lever 82 having a handle 83 operates the clutch. The lever is between two leaf springs, 84 and 85, which normally hold it in neutral position.

In the construction shown, there is but one charge-forming device 12 for the two machines, and a butterfly gate 86 may be swung to guide the charge into either machine, as desired. A lever 87 is fulcrumed at 88 and has its lower end connected with lever 82 and its upper end projecting between a forked arm 89 on the butterfly gate, so that the gate is automatically shifted when the clutch lever is moved.

Catches 90 and 91 are pivoted at 92 in position to normally hold the clutch lever in its extreme positlon to the right or left after it has been shifted to that position against the pressure of the respective leaf spring. Rods 93 and 94 depend from the free ends of catch levers 90, 91, and the lower ends of these rods are connected to levers 95 and 96, which project into the path of the respective jigger frames, so that when the jigger frames are lowered the catches are automatically released" and 'allow the clutch lever to be returned to neutral position.

A trip rod 97 is connected to the chargeforming device in a well known manner in order to discharge the measured or weighed material at the desired time. A lever 98 fulcrumed at 99 hasone end connected to discharge rod 97, and has the other end connected by a link 100 to clutch lever 81, so that the discharge rod is pulled down whenever the clutch lever is moved from neutral position in either direction.

A somewhat different method of operating the filling device is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In the construction indicated in these figmaaaea ures, there is a central mast 101 about which there rotates a lower spider 102 and an upper spider 103 carrfing a series of frames 104.11pon each of w ich there is mounted a filling machine substantially the same as shown in Fig. 1. At the base of the machine there is a motor 105 connected through a reduction gear 106 to a bevel gear 107 which meshes with a rack 108 upon the lower spider 102, and drives the spider continuously. On the upper end of the mast there is mounted a motor 109 connected to a countershaft 110 by a silent chain 111, or other suitable gearing. A toothed collar 112 is mounted rotatably upon the mast, and its upper series of teeth mesh with a bevel gear 113 upon shaft 110. In this construction of the apparatus the shaft 114 which drives the discharging screw is extended to the rear and has a bevelled gear 115 meshing with the lower teeth on collar 112. In this way the screw shaft is driven from motor l09,and the other parts of the bag filling device are driven from the screw shaft by its connection with the shaft corresponding to drive shaft 26 shown in Fig. 1.

A charge-delivering device 116 is diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 3, and is mounted stationarily above the paths of the filling machines. A pull rod 117 for discharging a weighed or measured charge of material is connected to a lever 118, the other end of which is in osition to be operated by a cam 119 upon t mechanism.

There may be one or more of the chargeforming devices mounted above the path of the hoppers of the filling machines, depending upon the number of machines mounted upon the spiders and the size of the bag to be filled, the s eed at which the chains operate, etc. In ig. 4, there is indicated a diagrammatic side elevation of the hoppers of a machine on which there are six fillers mounted, three of the hoppers. appearing in that view, the central one being at the filling station, and the hopper at the left, 120, approaching the station, and-the one at the right, 121, having just passed the filling station.

It will be seen that the respective cam upon each hopper will call the charge when the hopper reaches the filling station. The filling devices in this construction are the same as in Figs. 1 and 2, except for the manner of mounting the machines and the starting and stopping devices. In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the operation is continuous, and the charge is called by the passage of the hopper to filling position instead of at the will of the operator.

The operation of the machine will be fairly apparent from the foregoing description, but for convenience may be briefly summarized as follows:

e hopper of the filling Y hang straight down at the beginning In starting the machine the operator places a bag upon the filling spout. At the starting position the cam roller 54 is in the extreme outer portion 122 of groove 55, so that the jigging frame is at its lowest position. Lug 64 has passed arm 63 and so the discharge frame has returned to its normal position in which it is shown in Fig. 1. This allows the bag to hang straight down from the filling spout.

The closing of the clutch calls the charge by raising the end of lever 98 connected to the clutch lever, and thus pulling the discharge rod. At the same time the movement of the clutch lever swings the butterfly-gate to the proper-p0sition for guiding the charge into the filling machine which is energized by the closing of the clutch.

The gearing is such that the screw will rotate a sufficient number of times during one rotation of cam 56 to feed the charge into the bag. As cam 56 rotates, the jigging I frame is raised. The elevation of the jigging frame is such as to allow the bag t? o the filling operation. As the bag fills, the

walls are spread apart'and the bag shortens.

The jigging frame follows this upward movement of the bag bottom and comes in contact with the bag bottom after a part of the charge has been fed into the bag. By the operation ofeccentrics 50, .crosspieces 46 are moved up and down between cross-pieces 39 and jar the lower end of the bag enough to settle the material therein. Just before the completion of a single rotation ofcam 56, lug 64 contacts arm 63 of lever 62 and thereby loosens the clamp above the bag spout and tilts the bag-discharging device so as to. remove ,the bag from the machine. Immediately thereafter the jigging frame is dropped, and the bag discharge returns toits normal position. When the jigging frame drops, it encounters lever 95 or 96, asthe case may be, and thereby removes the catch from the path of the clutch lever and allows the lever to return to neutral position.

'While the operations described have been performed, the operator has placed a bag upon the other filling machine, so that he can move the clutch lever in the other direction and start the fillin of the second bag. While that bag is another bag in position on the first machine.

Where a small amount of leakage is objectionable, and particularly where the nature of the material or the size of the bags requires a com aratively large filling opening, it is desira le to close this filling opening. With large bags the operator has suflicient time to not only place a bag in filling position upon the idle machine, but also to close the valve, as by applying a lling he places ported, and subjectin fed by a screw, propeller, or similar device, horizontally through a comparatively small filling opening in the side of the bag at one corner thereof and allowed to drop into the bag and fill the same. In this way bags which are nearly closed before filling can be effectively packed with almost any kind of material, and if the normal closing of the valve is not sufliciently tight for the particular requirements of the desired packages, the closure of the comparatively small opening may be much more easily and quickly efi'ected than could be the closure of the entire endof the bag.

In fact, for the purposes of this invention, it is immaterial whether a valve is provided for closing,- or partially, closing, the inlet opening, or entire dependence is placed upon other means for closing the inlet opening.

While we have described in some detail one form of apparatus which has. been found effective and desirable, and an alternative form which is useful under some circumstances, it will be readily apparent that many changes can be made in the exact mechanism disclosed, within the scope of the appended claims.

at'we claim is:

1. The method of filling a bag, which consists in suspending a bag from its uper end and allowing its bottom to fall ree, filling material into the bag and thereby thickening and shortening the same, and supporting the bag at least partially from its bottom after a portion of the charge has been filled into the bag, and completing the filling of the bag while the bottom is so supported.

2. The method of filling a bag, which consists in suspending a bag from its upper end and allowin its bottom to fall free, filling material into the bag and thereby thicken ng and shortening the same, and supporting the bag at least partially from its bottom after a portion of the charge has been filled into the bag, completing the fillmg of the bag while the bottom is so su 0 the bottom of t e ag to a series of pac in concussions durmg said completing of t e filling.

3. Apparatus for fillin 1 bags, comprising a substantially horizontal spout adapted to enter a restricted opening in the corner of a bag and support" the upper end of the bag, the upper edge of the spout extending farther than the lower edge,- a screw feeder within the spout,' and means to rotat'e the screw to feed material through the spout into a bag thereon.

" 4. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising.

a substantially horizontal spout adapted to enter a bag, a screw feeder within the spout, meansto rotate the screw to feed. material through the spout into a bag thereon, a bottom support for the bag, and means to gradually. elevate the bottom support during the filling of the bag.

5. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a feed spout adapted to enter a bag, a support for supporting the bottom of a bag in receivin position on said spout, and means for radually elevating the support during the filling of the ba 6. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a substantially horizontal spout adapted to enter a bag, a screw feeder Within the spout, means to rotate the screw to feed material through the spout into a bag thereon, a bottom support for the bag, means to gradually elevate the bottom support during the filling of the bag, and means connected with said bottom support for applying successive blows to the bottom of the bag.

7. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a feed spout adapted to enter a bag, a support for supporting the bottom of a bag in receiving position on said spout, means for gradually elevating the bottom during the filling of the bag, and means connected with said bottom support for applying successive blows to the bottom of the bag.

8. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a spout adapted to enter a bag, a screw feed- I or within the spout, a bottom support for a bag in receiving position on said spout,

.means to .raisethe bottomsupport during the filling of the bag and to drop it at the end of saidfilling, and common means for driving the screw and raising and lowering. the bottom support, said means being so're-' lated tut-he screw and support that the screw feeds; a full charge into the bag during one raising and lowerin of the bottom support.

.9; Apparatus for lling a bag, comprising a spout adapted te enter a bag, a propeller adapted to feed the material through the spouti into a bag thereoma bottom support forabag in receiving position' on the spout,

means to raise and lower'the support, and common means to operatethe. propeller andthe support, said means being so related to the propeller and support that the pro feeds a full charge for a bag throug the spout during one raising and lowering of the su port. 7 Y i y 10, pparatus for filling bags, comprising means for suspending a' bag from its upper masses end, means for feeding material into the tom support for the bag, and means to raise and lower the bottom support during the feeding of the bag, the bottom support being at such a distance from the suspending means that the bottom of the collapsed bag does not rest upon the support at the beginning of the filling when the support is in its lower position, but rests on the support during the final portion of the filling while the support'is in its raised position.

11. Apparatus for fillm a bag, comprising'a filling spout adapte to enter a bag, a rotary impeller adapted to discharge materialthrough said spout, a clamp adapted to hold the bag on the spout, a support for the bottom of the bag, means for dropping the support after av predetermined number of rotations of said impeller, and means for releasing the bag clamp immediately prior to the dropping of the support.

12. Apparatus for filling a bag, comprising a filling spout adapted to enter abag, a clamp adapted to hold a bag on the spout, a support for the bottom of the bag on the spout, means for raising said support during the filling of the bag and dropping it at the completlon ofsaid filling, and means for releasing the bag clamp immediately prior to the dropping .of the support.

13. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a spout adapted to enter a bag, means for feeding material through the spout into a bag thereon, a bottom support for a bag in receiving position on said spout, means to raise the bottom support during the filling of the bag and drop-it at the completion of said filling, and means acuated by the dropping of the support for automatically stopping the feeding of the material.

It. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a spout adapted to-enter a bag, means for feeding material through the spout into a bag thereon, a bottom support for a bag in receiving position on said spout, a cam connected to said support and adapted to raise and lower the support during one revolution of the cam, driving means connected to the cam and the feeding means, means manually operable to start the feeding means and the revolution of the cam, and automatic means for stoppin the feeding means and cam at the completion of one revolution of the cam,

the connections to the feeding means and cam being so proportioned that the feeding means delivers a full charge to a bag during one revolution of the cam.

nected to the cam and the screw feeder, means manually operable to start the screw feeder and the revolution of the cam, and automatic means for stopping the feeding means and cam at the completion of one revolution of the cam, the connections to the screw feeder and cam being so proportioned that the screw feeder delivers a full charge to a bag during one revolution of the cam.

16. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a spout adapted to enter a bag, means for feeding material through the spout into a bag thereon, a bottom support for a bag in receiving position on said spout, a cam connected to said support and adapted to raise and lower the support during one revolution of the cam, driving means connected to the cam and the feeding means, means manually operable to start the feeding means and the revolution of the cam, automatic means for stopping the feeding means and cam at the completion of one revolution of the cam, the connections to the feeding means and cam being so proportioned that the feeding means delivers a full charge to a bag during one revolution of the earn, a clamp adapted to hold a bag on the spout, and means, controlled by the support-actuating cam for releasing the clamp immediately before the support is lowered.

17. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a spout adapted to enter a bag, means for feeding material through the spout into a bag thereon, a. bottom support for a bag in receiving position on said spout, a cam connected to said support and adapted to raise and lower the support during one revolution of the cam, driving means connected to the cam and the feeding means, a 'clutch manually operable to start the feeding means and "the revolution of the cam, automatic means for opening the clutch at the completion of one revolution of the cam, the connections to the feeding means and cam being so proportioned that the feeding means delivers a full charge to a bag during one revolution of the cam, a clamp adapted to hold a bag on the spout, means controlled by the support-actuating cam for releasing the clamp immediately before the support is lowered, and means for discharging the bag when the clamp is released.

18. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a feeder, rotary means to operate the feeder, the feeder being adapted to discharge a substantially equal amount of material upon each rotation of said means, and automatic means for discharging a. bag from feeding relation with said feeder after a predetermined number of rotations of said rotary I means.

19. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a spout adapted to enter a bag, a clamp for holding a bag upon the spout, a screw feeder within the spout, means for rotating the feeder to feed material through the spout into the bag thereon, automatic means for stopping the screw after sufficient turns to feed a charge into the bag, and automatic means for releasing the clamp when the screw is stopped. 4

. 20. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a spout adapted to enter a bag, a clamp for holding a bag upon the spout, a screw feeder within the spout, means for rotating the feeder to feed material through the spout into the bag thereon, automatic means for stopping the screw after sufficient-turns to feed a charge into' the bag, automatic means for releasing the clamp when the screw is stopped, and means to discharge the bag from the spout when the clamp is released.

21. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising a spout adapted to enter a bag, a screw feeder within the spout, means for rotating the screw to feed a charge of material into a bag on the spout, automatic means for stopping the screw when ithas made sufficient rotations to feed a charge into a bag, and automatic means for discharging a bag from the spout when the screw is stopped.

22. Apparatus for filling bags, comprising 4 a hopper, a feed spout projecting from the hopper and adapted to enter a bag, a propeller for feeding material from the hopper through the spout into a bag, a charge-forming device in position to discharge into the hopper. means to start and stop the propeller for filling each bag, and means to trip the charge-forming device and to start the propeller in timed relation.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto signed our names to this s ecification. JOHN E. gORNELL. ANDREW J. VERWYS. 

